TRANSFORM YOUR GYM MEMBERSHIP INTO AN INVESTMENT IN YOUR FITNESS
Tired of being a gym donor? If so, it’s no surprise and you’re not alone. Brits waste more than £4 billion a year on unused gym memberships.
Read on to learn five ways to stop wasting your money on a gym membership you don’t use. And instead transform your membership into a wise investment to improve your fitness and health.
Many of our members have previously struggled working out on their own at gyms in Clapham. Here are 5 reasons gym membership fails and what you can do about it.
1. YOU SET YOURSELF UNREALISTIC GOALS
Unless you’re a fitness professional – when setting your own goals you could be setting yourself up for failure. If your goals are unreasonable to achieve, it’s no wonder you may find yourself giving up after a few weeks. You need to give yourself the best chance of success.
When you join a gym, it’s good to get the help of a fitness professional to help you map your starting point and breakdown big goals into short-term targets. This way, you can be confident your goals are achievable.
Setting yourself smaller, short-term goals can help to keep you motivated and give you confidence and a sense of achievement for all your hard work.
Even better, have a fitness professional track your progress on a regular basis. This way you can keep adjusting your goals to keep up momentum and keep making progress.
2. YOU PLAN TO EXERCISE TOO OFTEN
Upon joining a gym, have you ever promised yourself you’re going to work out five times every week. Even though you haven’t done any exercise at all for a long while? This is a sure-fire way to set yourself up to fail.
Commit to a timetable that you can repeat week in week out. Exercising 2-3 times a week (especially from zero) is a great way to start. And even to continue. Give yourself a chance to fulfil your promises. Instead of beating yourself up, you’ll be congratulating yourself on the progress you’ve made – encouraging you to continue.
3. YOU HAVEN’T BEEN SHOWN HOW TO EXERCISE TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS
When you need your appendix out you go to a surgeon. When you need your car fixed you go to a mechanic. Why, therefore, when you want to change your body, why do you try to do it yourself?
Why not make the process safer and more enjoyable by working with a professional? This will also help boost your confidence if you often feel intimidated using the gym.
Achieving fitness goals is a complex process. Cut yourself some slack (and save a ton of time) by working with a pro who can help you get to where you want to go, faster and safer.
4. YOU LACK ACCOUNTABILITY
When it comes to achieving any goal, accountability is key. When completing a course, you may be accountable to an examining body. Or when working on a project at work, you may have a team or supervisor to hold you accountable. This helps you to strive and keep up your efforts, particularly when experiencing difficulties. Whomever you hold yourself accountable to can also be a guide to help you navigate through challenges along the way.
Even the most highly motivated and disciplined olympic athletes have a coach or a team to hold them accountable and encourage and guide them. You’ll find it a great benefit to provide yourself with this privilege too.
Accountability can come in many forms. A friend or colleague to work out with, a personal trainer or attending a regular fitness class where you know members.
5. YOU WANT RESULTS YESTERDAY
Think how long it took for you to get out of shape? This is often something that happens over a number of months or even years.
So why put the pressure on yourself to reverse this in few weeks? Short of owning a time-machine, it’s just not going to happen.
Go easy on yourself and be patient to allow enough time to see results.
Also, bear in mind – the changes you make to your exercise and eating habits need to be sustainable to keep the results you achieve. If you keep at it, you’ll continue making progress over time. All progress, no matter how big or small is still progress.
To learn more about healthy exercise and eating habits to achieve your fitness goals, contact James Staring, a leading personal trainer in Clapham, London.
ABOUT JAMES STARING
James Staring is a personal trainer based in Clapham, London. His methods have featured in publications such as Your Fitness, Hello, Healthy, Daily Mail, Closer, and many more. After giving up smoking and entering the fitness industry in 2009, James has focused on his passion to help others transform their health and fitness. However, James is convinced that most people struggle so much more than they need to in an effort to improve their fitness. Through his company, Fit to Last, which he runs with his partner, Ali Page – James has helped hundreds of men and women make small adjustments in their daily habits to transform their fitness and to love how they look and feel.